Renesemee and Jacob's New Best Friend
by Lishka Vida
Summary: Renesemee and Jacob meet a new girl in the Quilete school. Here's the catch: she knows EVERYTHING! Please Review or I WILL STOP WRITING!
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One**_

_**So What's with the new Chick?**_

So I was in the middle of staring my essay on Quilete stories (all of which I knew thanks to my mom and my Jacob) when I heard something that I _really_ shouldn't have heard.

"I know you! You're like me!" came the overexcited voice in my head. I looked to my right and Jacob wasn't even paying attention to the teacher (who had suddenly stopped talking) and he wasn't even working on the essay. He would probably do it later. This was a guarenteed A+ for Jake: He lived those stories as one of the magical wolf shapeshifters.

I looked back to my paper and was telling myself to just forget about it (and trying to think of something to give my dad for letting me finally come to school with Jake) when the voice came again.

"If you can hear me all you need to do is think of a responce. I'll hear you but only if you want to tell me."

Okay, this was weird.

"What do you mean like you?" I asked in my head, just to see if it worked.

"We're both half- vampire!" came the reply.

I stopped writing and loooked up at the teacher. She wasn't talking to the class anymore but was speaking quietly to a girl with long black hair and violet colored eyes.

I casually grabbed Jacob's hand and showed him the image of her and aded the thought 'She's a half-vampire. Do you think I should invite her over tonight to meet my mom and dad?'

He looked up and gave the girl a long thoughtful stare. Then he very subtlely slipped me a piece of paper. A note.

I suddenly wished (as I so often did) that I had my dad's ability to read minds. It would make life just that much easier.

I read the note Jacob had slipped on my desk.

_Not today. Tell them about it tonight and then invite her over tomorrow night. That way no one will freak out._

I rolled my eyes. I wrote back:

_They already know that I'm not the only one. They'll be suprised that there's one so close nearby but they won't freak out about it._

I gave the paper back to Jake. I forgot all about my essay. If I don't pass the class, my dad will just bribe the teacher until I do get a pass, and my Aunt Alice could help me with the essay when I get home anyway.

_Still. I don't think edward will appreciate it if we randomly brought someone home with us. Let's tell him first. If you want at lunch we can go to Seattle and tell him then you can bring her home tonight._

I thought about it. If I had Jacob run me down to my mom and dad's school to tell them something, I didn't think they would be very happy about it.

Instead of writing him back, I reached out for Jake's hand.

I showed him my favorite restaurant in Seattle. It was closer to the reservation then the school, but close enough that my dad would hear my thoughts if I projected them loud enough. Jake nodded and went back to doodling whatever it was he was working on. I leaned over to see what it was, but he covered it up with his enormous hands.

I looked at him suprised. He had never done that before.

"It's a suprise!" he mouthed to me.

"No fair!" I mouthed back.

Meanwhile he teacher stopped talking to the new girl and she came to sit in the empty seat next to me.

I decided to experiment.

"So you're half-vampire, huh?" I thought, they way I would put it into my father's mind to listen to my thoughts.

"Yes I am. I've been looking for somewhere to live, but I couldn't find any nomads that were going to stay in one place for very long until I stopped growing." The girl hadn't looked up from the book she was reading, but I still heard her voice all the same.

"So what brings you to the reservation?" I asked.

"I just got a feeling that there would be a good place to saty near by. I know that vampires can't go out in direct sunlight, and I knew that rainy areas would be my best bet to find someplace to live."

Well she was right about that. I've lived between La Push with Jake and Forks with my parents all of my six (almost seven) years and have rarely ever seen a properly sunny day. On they days that it's sunny, my mom and dad like to go away to a place where they can be inthe sun where there are no people to see them and get alarmed.

"There's a clan up in Alaska that will be willing to take you in. I don't know that my parents will let you live with us." I told her.

I thought about the coven in Alaska, or the pair, I should say. Tanya and Kate would likely take her in with open arms. They missed their sister Irna with a passion I could hardly think to explain. Maybe if they recieved a new member to take care of...

"How old are you?" She asked me, suddenly interrupting my thought processes.

"Six... seven tomorrow. Why?" I asked.

"Caouldn't tell. My name is Nathalie."

"I'm Renesemee." I looked over to her and she hadn't looked up from her book.

The bell rang for lunch just then and I grabbed Jake's hand as we left the classroom.

The girl went in the opposite direction from us.

"So what do you know about her so far... and how do you know that she's half-vampire like you?" Jacob asked as we headed out to the car. It was actually my mom's ferrari, but she doesn't like to drive it, so she gave it to me, and I don't like to drive at all so Jacob usually drove it. My dad prefered his awesome Aston Martin, The Vanquish (which is he only car I'll drive willingly).

"Well, she's a half -vampire, but she was abandoned by both of her parents and is trying to find somewhere stable to stay." I stopped as I saw my dad's volvo in the parking lot right next to where Jacob had parked the ferrari.

I ran to it, yanked open the passenger door, and jumped in mext to my dad. Jake followed me slowly and hopped into the backseat behind me.

"Hi Daddy!" I said kissing him on the cheek.

"Hey Edward." Jake said quieter.

"Hello Jacob. Nessie dearest. How about lunch and you can tell me about this other half-vampire?" So he had heard the entire conversation.

Instead of saying anything, as he started the car, I touched his face and showed him everything the girl had told me.

"Well, isn't this interesting. And you said she could tell you things, and hear your reply? You should invite her to dinner tonight."

"She's looking for somewhere to live. Do you think that she could go to Alaska and stay with Tanya and Kate?"

My dad was going 120 miles per hour, something he usually did when he was thinking deeply. Jacob was huddled in the backseat drawing again.

I touched Dad's face again, this time asking him to tell me what it was Jake was drawing. The moment I did, he chuckled.

"Okay, Dad. I bite. What's so funny?" I asked, irritated.

"I can't tell you. The requests have already been issued. I can't tell you anything about tomorrow."

"Aww, Dad, no way!" I whined. There was a rule in our house that if there was a suprise of some sort waiting for me and I my dad knew it, you had to have your request not to tell me in the day before you told me yourself. I hated it.

"Sorry, Nessie. I wish I could tell you but you know the rules."

"Please Daddy! Please, please, please, please! Please tell me!" I begged.

"No Nessie." His voice was firm now but there was a smile on his face. He was having fun. As usual.

I gave up and took out my MP3 player that he had given me on my first Christmas and listened to the Waltz of the Flowers.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two**_

_**Nathalie**_

When I woke up we had arrived home and my father ran inside; Jake was on the verge of changing.

My father ran inside.I could see why for the tension once I got out of the car.

Someone, not a Cullen, was in the house. He was tall with short hair and stood in front of Uncle Emmet with more confidence than most men his size.

Jake wanted to run, but he stayed behind and grabbed my bags for something to do with his hands as he walked me to the door.

I could hear the voices as I neared the door.

"I do hope you will excuse the wait but I want my whole family to hear your story before I make any decisions." Came my Grandpa Carlisle's voice from inside.

My dad was standing behind him, one arm around my mother.

I walked in and took a seat between Aunt Alice on the couch and Uncle Jasper who was standing next to the arm. I could faintly feel the shield my mother put up around every one in the room.

"Now you may proceed." Carlisle said.

"Thank you." The man said. I had a better view of him now. He had an easy, relaxed look on his face as if one wrong move wouldn't get him ripped to shreds. He wore all black and had black hair that looked nice with his flushed face.

FLUSHED!

"He's a half- vampire." My dad and I said at the same time.

"Yes I am. My name is Nathaniel and I would like to ask that you grant me and my sister sanctuary until we can find more permanent lodgings for the semester. As it seems she has already met one of you." He looked pointedly at me.

"Nathalie, right?" I asked.

"Yes."

"She made it seem that she was all alone. She said nothing about you." I said.

"I know. She's running from me, but she's not... all there." He said hesitantly.

"What do you mean by 'not all there'?" My father asked. He looked like he was on the verge of one of his infamous panic attacks. Edward Cullen was the world's most protective dad/husband/brother in the world. I had to fight rolling my eyes.

"She has... a few... unresolved... mental... problems. I need to work them out with her. She ran from me in a misunderstanding." He sounded like he was having a hard time understanding his own words.

_Odd... She seemed perfectly fine when she spoke to me earlier._

"What makes you think she'll trust you now?" My dad... again. He seemed no less panicked.

"This." He held up a cross necklace studded with garnets and diamonds. The gems were encased in a silver framing. I was probably worth as much as the clothes in my wardrobe(which by the way is a lot because my Aunt Alice _refuses_ to allow me to wear anything that doesn't have a big price tag and an even bigger brand name).

"Do you think she'll recognize it?" My grandpa asked.

"I am quite certain that she will. Now about my sister and me staying here for a while- no more than a month I assure you- what do you say?" Nathaniel concluded.

"What exacly is wrong with her?" My dad sounded suspisious. There was no way in hell that he was going to give ground until he knew the details.

"She was born with a particular... ability... that doesn't do too well with her."

"What ability is that ability?" Alice's question this time. She had the far away look that made me think she already knew the answer

"She sees what I can only explain as _sakkri_. Visions." Nathaniel said.

"Can you explain that to us, please? This girl sits next to Nessie in a class and if she goes hostile I need to know what I'm dealing with." Jacob finally spoke. I supposed he had gotten through all the bad jokes he shouldn't say out loud out of the way.

"It's like Alice's power." Jasper explained.

"It is nothing like Alice's power. Maybe in the sense that she _can _see the future, but that's where similarities end. she can see forward, back, was could have been, what should have been, what could be, what will never be, and in varying degrees. The problem is things don't stay in her visions and she ends up hurting herself or others."

"How does she hurt others?" Jacob asked. I rolled my eyes. _Worrywort!_ I thought ungratefully.

"If her power goes beyond her control, it lashes out at anything it can reach before attacking her."

"So she can't control her power?" Alice asked.

Nathaniel nodded. "I am working on it but she's too powerful so I am teaching her, naturally."

"I don't trust it." My dad said. It sounded automatic, kind of the way my dad controlled my mother when she couldn't control herself.

"I don't see why not Dad. I think it would be a good idea to keep her around people she can't hurt." I said before thinking.

"She wouldn't try. Any harm she causes is completely beyond her. She gets hurt by herself much more than she hurts others. She doesn't care enough to."

"What do you mean 'she doesn't care enough'? Would she harm anyone that she did care about?" Gramma Esme was the speaker this time. A collective growl emerged from my family.

"No. You misunderstand." Now he looked appropriately worried. "I mean... One saying that we have in our famliy is that in order to kill someone, you have to care about your life and their death to actually go through with it."

"So which does she not care about? Our deaths or her life?" The question came from my dad.

"Her own life for sure. Your deaths? She hardly even knows you. How could she care about something she knew nothing about?" Nathaniel sounded like the thought was painful.

"Nessie?"

"Yes, Dad?"

"Invite her over tomorrow. Maybe I can get a handle on what is going on with this girl." My dad suggested.

"I'll do better. I'll invite her tonight." I told him.

"You are welcome as well...." My dad faltered on the name. It was just a set-up to properly introduce himself. How so like my post-Victorian father.

"Nathaniel," He provided.

"I am Edward. This is my daughter, Renesemee; my wife, Bella; Jasper, Rosalie, Alice, Jacob, Emmet, and I assume you have already met Carlisle and Esme." My father pointed to each of us in turn.

"Thank you. It is very much appriciated." Nathaniel favored us with a huge bow... and then was gone.

"I don't like this. That's how he showed up and scared the shit out of all of us." said Uncle Emmet.

"Well, like I said we'll invite the two over for tonight like we were planning to and see what happens from there. There's no need to..." my mom slowly considered. My dad as shaking his head before she got three words out. This time I did roll my eyes.

"Dad you already agreed to it. And like I said, there was nothing wrong with her when we spoke to her in class today." I helped my mother. That wasn't it though. I wanted to invite her over to see what happened.

"No. Not here. If we're going to meet her we can at the very least not bring her here." my dad protested.

"Edward, you do have a point but wouldn't it be safer to have her here, on our turf? I mean, the Nathaniel kid said that she could accidentaly hurt someone in the process of losing control of her power. I doubt she could hurt you all too much. If we meet them somewhere it has to be somewhere they can find but is very far away from humans, it should work."

"The dog's got a point." Said my Aunt Rosalie. I rolled my eyes- She had never liked Jacob. They were always at ends. "We don't have to bring them here but we shouldn't have to inconvinience ourselves to avoid it."

"So is it decided?" Grandpa Carlilse asked everyone.

"I still don't like this." my dad murmured. I grabbed his hand to offer comfort. Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement.

"Hold on. the guy still knows where we live." my Uncle Jasper mentioned.

"It doesn't matter." My dad answered. "He just wants to be reunited with his sister. And it's time for you two to get back to school." Jacob and I groaned at the thought, but my dad ignored us. He had the keys in hand.

We walked back out to the volvo and were back in the reservationby the time the bell rang.

"So we give her the directions to meet us in the baseball clearing?" I asked.

"Yes. Be careful and watch her." He spoke to me, but he looked at Jacob.

"With both eyes as often as I can spare them." Jacob agreed.

With that, Jacob and I walked back toward school.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter Three_**

**_The Day the Earth Got Even Dumber_**

Aunt Rosalie was sitting on the couch in the living room watching some out-dated soap opera; Jake was out running with his pack, Embry, Quil, Seth, and Leah; my mom and Aunt Alice were in Port angeles shopping for any clothes they might have missed the last time; Grandma and Grandpa were hunting; My daddy was sitting on the piano working on something he started on a long time ago; and I think my uncles Jasper and Emmet were in the garage working on something.

About three hours ago Jacob and I had returned from school. Jacob had taken off immediatly.

I had never been so bored in my life. I went and sat next to my father, hoping he would let me help him. He was toying with a bridge.

"Not today,honey. Maybe a little later." He shot me down before I could even ask.

I groaned, putting my hand on his cheek and showing him _just_ how bored I was.

"Jacob is on his way back. Have some patience." He abandaned the bridge o fthe new song and started playing my mom's lullaby.

"JACOB!" I heard Leah yell. My dad broke off playing, letting out a huge laugh.

"What did he do now?" I asked him.

"You'll find out soon enough."

I got up and walked outside. Leah was on the verge of phasing and Jacob looked like he was trying really hard not to laugh.

"You idiot! You moron! You... you... you..."

"Calm down. It's not like you didn't see it comming and it's not like you should care about it at all."

I frowned as Leah phased out of her clothes, and ran through the trees, away from Jacob.

"What'd you do?" I asked Jacob. I'd seen Leah mad before but not that bad.

"I told her that if she didn't like the decisions I made, Sam would gladly take her back, and I would be glad to be rid of her. I then showed her how right I was. She didn't like it." Jake chuckled. "I got stuff to do so if you'll excuse me..."

"Um... No!" I placed a hand on his cheek.

"Well that's just too bad, but if I don't get out of town soon, Bella will worry and you won't have a birthday present." Jacob lamented.

No birthday present? Town?!

"Since when do you _buy_ presents?" I asked him skeptically.

"I didn't buy it... I just gotta go into town to finish it." He then kissd the top of my head- becuse my dad wasn't looking- and ran towards his Rabbit. I stood there and pouted for a while, but as Jacob waved to me as he drove away, my anger diminished.

I ran inside to bump my dad off the piano (he had a bad habit of monopolizing it even though he taught me) when I ran right into Jasper.

"Your dad says go home." I knew he was talking about the little cottage in the woods that my grandma built for my mom and dad as a wedding gift.

"NO FAIR!" I yelled in the direction of my father's flawless piano playing. I swear I could hear his answering chuckle.

I then smiled and ran into the woods and right into my parents room to steal a book from my mom. Maybe I could read the day away.

I was up to chapter twenty in _Jane Eyre_ (my favorite) by the time my mother returned.

"Nessie!" She called me when she and Alice walked into the house. I marked my place and Walked into the front room. She held bags of clothes. "Help me put these away please." She asked. I grabbed the bags on her right and walked to her room.

"Those are yours dear." She said. I detoured as if I had never walked the wrong way in the first place.

I heard her chuckle behind my back. I rolled my eyes where she couldn't see and started hanging my clothes in my closet. I looked at them as I went, and began to get concerned.

"Mom?" I called. "why are there so many skirts?" I couldn't wear too many skirts. I like to run with Jacob. These was _way_ too short for that.

"Alice did all of your shopping hun." She answered from her room.

"Okay. I'm gonna go see if Daddy got off the piano." I said when I hung the last skirt up.

"Okay. I'll be there in a bit."

I ran to the bigger house and went right up to my father at the piano. He ignored me, working on another bridge. He was missing a note and the cord didn't sound too good without it. I pondered it for a moment, and then I heard it. I waited until he started it rom the top again and played the missing notes over it on the right side of the piano. Then, my dad noticed I was there. He smiled, and paused in the song.

"Show me that again. I didn't quite catch it." I did as he asked and played the simple missing cord.

He nodded and played the bridge this time with the missing cord and the soft sound filled the room. But he stopped there and briged over to my mother's lullaby.

"Dad!" I complained.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"Stop hogging the piano!" I asked. I knew I sounded whiney, but I didn't relly care. It as _my_ turn.

"I'm not done playing." He said. He was smiling though.

_I'll just play over you then,_ I thought. At his confused look I placed my hands on the parts of the piano he wasn't playing and started to play chopsticks over the lullaby, sliding uder his arm when I needed to. from there I bridged to something or other by Beethoven. My dad frowned and even flinched at the horrid sounds of the confusing cords. I as good at concentrating on the notes I was playing- this was a hard song for me. Eventually, he gave up with a sigh and stopped playing. Then I bridged to Claire de Lune by Debussy (that one took a while to learn) because I heard my mom outside.

He sighed again and stood, walking to greet my mother with a wide smile. Just then my Uncle Emmett walked ito the room.

"Hey Ness! You want to play chess?" I loved my uncle. He could always make me smile just by walking in the room.

"No! I'm on the piano." I told him.

"Oh c'mon! You can play piano later!"

"No I can't! My dad is _always_ on the piano! If he had his way I would never play!" I complained.

"Edward, stop monopolizing the piano. Why did you teach her to play if she wasn't going to get the chance?" My grandma defended me from upstairs.

I stuck my tongue out at him and laughed. My dad scowled.

I sat at the piano for a long time, playing all the songs I knew. It was better than sitting around all day.

By the time I finished playing, My dad and Aunt Alice were in the middle of a game of chess. So were Emmett and Jasper, on another, much larger board (eight boards put together to be exact). I knew the game between Edward and Alice would be over soon, Jasper and Emmett's game could last for days.

I got up. My dad looked up. _I'm tired. I'm gonna turn in early tonight._ With that I ran back to the cottage in the woods. Jacob was waiting at the door, as I had expected. I didn't say anythin as we walked into the house.

"Your piano playing is getting better." He commented. I went and laid on my bed, and he quietly climbed in next to me.

I was asleep in five minutes.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter Four_**

**_Birthdays and Visions_**

Jacob and I walked into our English class a whole five minutes late. We had been trying to make sure that I had my story straight. I would tell her about the dinner and everything should be fine so long as I didn't make Jacob any more paranoid and nervous than he already was.

Piece of cake, right?

I sat in my seat. Jacob sat in his. Nathalie was in hers.

And then her brother walked in. Jacob was shaking with panic. I grabbed his hand to calm him. It worked... a little.

Nathaniel glided into the room and sat in a seat on the other side of the room from Nathalie. If she noticed him she gave no sign of it, but there was no way to be sure without knowing her thoughts.

Speaking of thoughts...

_Do you want to join my family for dinner so that you can ask if you can stay with us?_ She gave me the slightest glance from the corner of her eye.

_Sure! It'll be awesome!_She was enthusiastic enough. I was still hand and hand withJacob, and he relaxed a little more that it was over with.

_Okay. My dad is picking me and Jacob up from school today. Why don't you tag along? It'll make it easier if you don't have to look or us._

_I don't know. I think I should swing by later. Then I don't have to worry about invading on your privacy._

_You won't be invading on anything. I think you couldride withus. What's the problem with that?_ I pressed.

_Okay. I'll come along. Thank you._

_No problem._

I looked at Jacob. The shaking had almost completely stopped.

After that, the day passed fairly quickly, and just as boringly. When my dad came to pick the three of us up, I let the excitement of my birthday start to leak.

"You have to wait until you get home to open your presents. Calm down!" My dad told me when he discerned my excitement.

"Presents?" Nathalie asked.

"Yea! It's my seventh birthday!" I exclaimed. Now that school was behind me I felt the melancholy slip away.

Nathalie didn't try to speak into anyone's mind as we drove home. She had an odd look on her face, like Jacob when he does homework by himself.

When we arrived, she looked in awe at the almost absurd number of uncurtained windows.

"Happy Birthday, Nessie!" was written on a huge banner over the door. There were ribbons hanging in front of the door. The first thing I did when I got in the door was steppon a balloon. The floors were riddled with them all the way up the stairs.

"Happy Birthday!" My family yelled as I walked into the living room. They were all arranged around the couch behind a mountain of grabbed my hand and squeezed it. When I looked at him he was grinning fit to split his face. My father pulled me into a huge hug. "Happy birhday, sweetheart." he whispered in my ear.

"Okay, enough with the mushy stuff! Let's get to the presents!" Exclaimed Uncle Emmett. My dad released me.

"Open mine first!" Aunt Alice exclaimed in her wind chime voice, flitting to me with a huge box in her hands.

"Oh, I almost forgot," which I did forget actually. "Everyone, this is Nathalie."I said pulling her forward with the hand that was not occupied by Jacob's.

"Hello." She said, embarrassedly. She still had the far-away look in her eyes, but she looked like she was at least able to see the people in the room.

"Howdy! Welcome to the Cullen Residence." Alice, of course was the first to say anything. Everoneelse said their hellos and pretended not to really worry about her. I decided to ignore the pessimism thick in the room and turned to Alice's present. It was a big square, about half my height, wrapped in blue wrapping paper withdozens of ribbons coming down from a huge sapphire bow. I started withthe bow, then moved to untangling the string. I placed a bet in my mind of who I thought would get irritated withme first. I slowly worked the ribbons loose from the bow. When I started picking at the tape, I won the bet with myself.

"Nessie if you don't open that damned thing..." Uncle Emmett warned. I aughed, as did everyone else.

"Okay, Uncle Em, jeez! Don't be so impatient!" I quickly ripped throught the wrapping paper to get through to the box. It was a Jewlery box... no, that's not right. It was a jewlery closet made of expensive polished mohagany and sapphire (my favorite color) velvet. The labeling on the box was in french.

"All the way from France. I got it because you always just toss your jewlery in the small one and it has no organization." Alice explained matter of factly. I beamed at her.

"Thanks so much Aunt Alice!" I gave her a huge hug.

"Oh, you know it's nohing!" she said, hugging me back.

"Okay it's my turn." Jacob announced, releasing my hand.

"Not a chance. I get to go next." Dad countered.

"You're both wrong! It's time for Rose and my gift!" Uncle Em had them beat; he actually had it in my face already. It was a much smaller box. I wondered if it was another mp3.

Dad and Jacob looked at each other and ran off in opposite directions, presumably to get my gifts.

Meanwhile I opened the present from Emmett and Rosalie. It was wrapped in red, with a pink bow. Inside was a beautiful diamond necklace that had "Renesemee" written on it in sapphire stones.

I gave Rose a hug and Emmett shuffled my hair.

Wen I turned to Jacob, he handed me a thin rectangular... something. It looked like canvas. It had Sapphire everything- paper, bow and ribbons. I turned to my dad. He had a piece of paper in his hand.

"I think I'll open your gifts last." I decided, pointing at them with two fingers.

"That's fine by me." Dad answered with a smile on his face.

"Sure. Why not save the best for last?" Jacob agreed. I rolled my eyes and moved to my mountain.

In all, I got a jewlery organizer, a guitar, a huge stuffed tiger (I collect stuffed animals), a beautiful silver hand mirror, a book of Edgar Allen Poe stories, and three sapphire and diamond necklaces from Alice and Jasper; three diamond rings (that matched my necklaces of course), the _Darkangel Trilogies_ (my favorite book series), four pairs of heals, two pairs of skater shoes, a skateboard (which my dad rolled his eyes at), and a crystal chess set as well as the diamond sapphire necklace from Rosalie and Emmett; a large assortment of music boxes (I collect those too), a new pair of ice skates (hobby), a huge poster of the entire cast of _Underworld_(all three movies), and a wodden plaque that had my name and lots of space to add stuff from my Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme; a beautiful fur coat from Grandpa Charlie; a diital camera from my Grandma Renee; and a LOT of clothes from Mom.

Through it all, Nathalie quietly helped when I needed help and offered comment when asked, but said nothing really.

I turned to Jacob and my dad. "Open Jacob's first." Nathalie advised.

"Okay. Sorry Dad." I said. He smiled.

"Save the best for last right?" He said. I smiled at him as I took Jacob's present.

I unwrapped it and gasped. It was a beautiful sliver etching of my dad and Jacob in his wolf form standing before a forest where the full moon had just surfaced from the canopy.

"Oh my god! Jake!" I threw my arms around himand gave him the biggest hug I could. "Thank you so mush! It's beautiful!"

"Very well done." My dad agreed.

"Okay, Dad. What did you get me?" I asked.

"Well, it's at the house in the woods. Do you all mind the walk?" The question was just a curtesy.

"Follow us." I told Nathalie and ran behind th rest of my family out of the house and into the woods.

She kept pace in the back, just behind Jacob. My mother and Father of course were leading the way.

We were all in front of the door to the house when Dad's exciteement finally started to leak through.

"Okay, Edward so what is it that has us all the way out here?" Uncle Emmett asked.

"Okay, Nessie. Open the door." Dad told me. I walked as slowly as I could.

When I opened the door, I did a double take and gasped. There in the middle of the front room, was a giant mahogany grand piano.

"Daddy..." I whispered. I slowly walked up to it and stroked the painted surface of the wood, as if confirming for myself that it was there. It was the most beautiful instrument I had ever seen. I walked around to the front of it and stroked the ivory and black colored keys. I looked closer and saw my full name, Renesemee Carlie Cullen, etched in silver into the key cover.

"Happy Birthday, Love." Dad whispered in my ear as he hugged me.

"Thank you so much!" I whispered, almost in tears.

"Okay! Dinner time for those of us that eat!" Jacob exclaimed, reminding us of the task at hand, which was to reunite Nathalie with her brother.

We all trekked back to the house where my "dinner party" was to commence. About two minutes _after_Grandme Esme served her lasagna, Nathaniel showed up at the door. He was wearing a black button down shirt and black jeans, and his long hair was tied by a black ribbon to the nape of his neck.

"Good evening!" He said in a cheerful voice. I still couldn't place the accent. "I apologize for being late. Happy birthday, Renesemee." He handed me a box wrapped in blood red paper. It was a pair of diamond studs.

I thanked him and led him into the dining room. The moment she saw him, Nathalie stood and looked into his eyes with fear.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Nothing. I came to have dinner with friends. You should sit." He took his own advise and sat in the chiar across from her. She walked around the table and stood behind him.

"N_asa'Nathalie-nas'ka'la._" He said. Nathalie was frozen where she stood for a moment then she walked back to her seat.

The dinner went quietly, the silence only pausing when my father "accidentally" dropped a pot of mashed potatoes on Jacob's lap- one of his many indulgences. The fight was over in about five minutes, and then it went back to the stiff silence.

When the plates were cleared away, Nathaniel got up and walked behind his sister, then leaned in and whispered in her ear. She looked more relaxed at least.

"Okay. So I believe that both Nathaniel and Nathalie are here to ask to be fostered in our home. Would you both like to say something?" Grandpa Carlisle asked.

"I would." Nathaniel spoke up. "We won't be a nuisance. Anything you need, we will do."

"Nathalie will you add to that?" Grandpa Carlisle asked. Nathalie hadn't done anything but glare.

"I would like to say that I dont know him..."

"Nathalie!" Nathaniel complained. "Okay, you leave me no choice." He said after a moment of looking her way.

He pulled out the necklace.

She was paralyzed for a moment.

Then, "Where did you get that?"

"Where do you think? There's only one person that can make genuine firestone, and only one person they would trust it to."

"Pandora" She whispered.

I'll admit, the not knowing ANYTHING was exceedingly irritating but I thought about it and figured I could ask my dad if I didn't get it... but I could be patient. This is very similar to the way Dad and Alice spoke to each other.

"Do you understand?" Nathaniel asked after a moment, exasperated. I glanced at my dad. He wasn't upset, but he wasn't wearing what my mom called the "Poker Face" which robably meant that he was content or he didn't know what to make of it.

"I do... I think. But why if I-" She suddenly gasped.

"You're right. Get her out of here," Dad said. Nathaniel looked confused for about half a second then grabbed his sister and ran out of the house. I turned.

"No Nessie! Let them go. Her power just shifted; it's not safe to be around her." He explained befor I could run.

"What the fuck is going on?" Uncle Emmett exclaimed.

"I don't know a lot of it. Enlish isn't their first language and the language they do share is dead, so I don't know it. The jist of it though is that they have a powerful friend that can make gems of some sort. She is immortal, but not a vampire. Anyway, Nathaniel is the only onetrusted with that particular gem. She just now got one of her visions. She's in a lot of pain and swearing in at least four languages. Either way she's coming back to reality and sanity. Don't look at me like that! I caught what I could." He added to Jasper and Emmett.

"Can you catch what she's seeing?" Asked Grandpa.

"I don't want to. I caught a second of the pain that's running through her and... I don't honestly know how she can still live, but I coaught somehing about snakes."

"If that's all you caught then you didn't catch anything." Nathaniel had returned... Nathalie was nowhere in sight.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter Five_**

**_Nathalie and Nathaniel's Story_**

OKay I'm a bit of a wimp but the moment i saw that Nathalie was gone, I grabbed Uncle Jasper's hand and asked him to go find her. He looked to my Dad and then was off.

"What did she see?" My dad asked in the mean time.

"Nothing that you would happen to understand. Nothing that she should be able to see."

"Where is she? I mean you can't leave her to deal with these things alone." My mom asked.

"She is somewhere at the bottom of the river, trying to bring some kind of semblance of order to her life." He must have registered the horrified looks on all our faces because he added, "Don't worry, she's fine. After a while, her power flows through her entire body, and it will sustain her much longer than air or water. The reason she's at the bottom of the river is because it's out of the way."

"I didn't catch much of her vision, did you?" My dad asked. Trust him to be curious as to what she was seeing.

"What did you catch. I can't read her mid but if you caught enough of it, I can tell you what vision she was reliving. By her aura it had to be something ancient, outherwise it wouldn't be so painful for her."

"I saw... snakes... and falcons... and I think that's about it."

"What kind of snakes and falcons... can you be specific?" I thought the question was rude, but Dad was concentratng on the question, so I didn't say anything.

"A King Cobra for sure... The falcon's I'm not sure about." My dad said after a few seconds.

"Then she probably saw the dividing of Ahnamirak's power. A long time ago, I would venture to say at least one hundred thousand years ago, There was the Dasi, the reigning 13 shapeshifters in matters of the shm'Ahnmik or the followers of the god Ahnmik the Falcons and the Serpiente. They held great power, but it depended on the balance. One day, one of the Dasi, Maeve the white viper and the first of the shapeshifters left with a travelling caravan of wolf 'shifters and the balanced was destroyed."

I felt Jacob stiffen at the mention of the wolves. I grabbed his hand, telling him to wait for the end of the story so we could find out where Nathalie was and then he could question about the wolves.

"In order to prevent the destruction of the world and the eruption of chaos the Shm'Ahnmik summoned the head priestess and most powerful of Ahnamirak's followers the King Cobra Kiesha and split her power in half, implanting half of it in a small girl, restoring most of the balance and creating in the process the Avian race."

"I don't understand though. Why is it so painful for her?" Auntie Alice asked.

"Alice, you have no idea how easy you have it. Your visions are mostly from an ominicient point of view. My sister is viewin this from Kiesha's point of view. In order to split the power in half, the falcons had to spilt Kiesha's very soul in half. That kind of pain... There is no other pain grater. To call it pain hardly seems fair."

"So what now? We simply let her drown herself in the river while she's in that muh pain?" Grandma didn't sound happy about that thought.

"She'll be fine... eventually. She'll come back when she's in control. It won't last too long this time. This is a vision she's had before. In fact it as the first one she ever had." There was more to that, but he wasn't going to say anymore.

Nathaniel turned and sat where he was standing and then we could see the tears in his shirt and the significant amount of water in his hair.

"What happened to your shirt?" I asked since it looked like no one else would.

"Oh this?" He asked fingerin the tear under his arm. "This shirt isn't made for the avarge Falcon Shapeshifter. My wings ripped it."

"But how are all your clothes in tact?" Jacob blurted.

Nathaniel smirked. "One, my power is developed enough that clothes are no problem. Two, I was only in my demi form, not the full falcon."

"Do you know when your sister will be back?" Mom asked.

"She's just left the river. She's peeved about something but she'll get over it."

"You can't read minds, so how do you know?" Dad asked. I went inside and sat on the couch. Jacob followed me, and because I could care less about the football game that Uncle Em had turned on I kept listening to what was going on outside.

"My power is a lot less than hers but I can control mine. I can find her no matter what and while I can't read minds I can read her aura which tells me a lot more than just her thoughts."

"Facinating." Said Grandpa. For a while, I kinda zoned out, staring at but not watching the TV. Jacob stayed by my side as usual as I waited for Nathalie to return.

I didn't have long to wait. A while later I heard my Grandma gasp softly, "Oh dear." Then I felt the air as Auntie Alice sped up the stairs, and then back down with a towel. I got up and stood by the back door as I saw a very soaked and now towel covered Nathalie walking away from the river bank.

She looked upset and worried, and I wasn't the only one who noticed because I felt Uncle Jasper spread the calm around the room, causing me to yawn and sit down on a step as I watched her walk closer. "Sorry." I heard him murmur.

Nathaniel looked to his sister, and whatever he read, it wasn't good.

"Nathalie?" He asked.

"Nathaniel they're comming. For me. Soon. Those are the Aona's orders." She said simply. "We have to go." She added. My dad looked panicked, shocking me to alertness. Whatever Nathalie said, my dad didn't like what she was thinking.

"Where will you go?" Grandma asked. She has such a soft heart, and she hated most to let a homeless child slip through her motherly grasps.

"Nowhere. Anywhere. If we don't stop too long in any particular place they may give up and leave us alone." Nathalie responded. Her voice was low and hoarse and she sounded winded.

"Lieing isn't going to help your situation." Dad said softly. "You know they won't stop looking for you because of the... the ... Aona's orders?" Dad used the word gingerly.

"It translates generally to mean 'heir'. Araceli is the heir to the emperess, and one of the origional Dasi. Time is not important to either her or my Emperess, so 'soon' is not a very relavent term. It depends on how badly Araceli wants her." Nathaniel disagreed.

"I heard her, Nathaniel. She has ordered the Mercy to move out tomorrow! Syfka and Servos and Darien will be on thir way by first light." Nathalie argued sounding desperate.

"We have time. I say we come up with a plan..."

"Let's not waste what little time we have! I say we do what I told you would be the fastest route. We go to the Wyvern's court and beg sanctuary of Nicias and Hai." Nathalie sounded panicked.

"We're too far, and besides, Syfka will use your power to track you and if we're headed in their direction we are sure to get caught. Please have patience. We don't have to do the rash thing." Nathaniel looked like he was a little lost and more than a bit worried.

"Edward, the twins can use your room, right?" Grndma asked. Nathaniel sent her a look of gratitude.

"If needed. that is what they were origionally asking for."

"Origionally, the Emperesses Mercy wasn't after us."

Suddenly, Nathalie collapsed, falling easily into Nathaniel's arms.

"She's exhausted. We will talk in the morning. I'm sorry Renesmee. I didn't mean to spoil your birthday. Thank you all for allowing us to stay." Nathaniel nodded his head an walked upstairs to the room my dad used to use.

"So what are we going to do?" Mom asked. Her brows were pushed together which meant she was confused.

"We can't let them wander around with nothing!" Grandma commented.

"We may have to. These falons... they aren't something we know. I say we get as much information from them as we can." Grandpa disagreed.

"I say we let them be. They obviousy know what they're up against." Uncle Emmett said. Aunt Rose agreed with him.

"Hmm... I don't think we will get away from this easily. The future I see has them both in it." Auntie Alice said, her eyes taking on that glaze expression that meant she was looking to the future.

"I didn't catch a lot of that." Dad said.

"It's not clear. I see the same woman over and over since those two showed up."

"I say we wait until morning. Then that way we know for a fact what they'll do and we'll have all day to get more information." Jake said after a while. I nodded in agreement. If I could help them I didn't want to pass that up.

"Then we wait til morning. Until then, Nessie do you want to go try out your new piano?" Dad always knows how to distract me.


End file.
